Shirt envelope



SHIRT ENVELOPE sept. 21, 1937.

J. M. ALTER ET AL Filed Oct. 6. 1953 Patented Sept. 21, 1937 PATENTOFFICE SHIRT ENVELOPE Julius M. Alter, Brooklyn, and Meyer Lipsey, NewYork, N. Y.

Application October 6,

3 Claims.

This invention relates to devices such as envelopes for garments andespecially for shirts as packaged in laundries.

One object of the invention is to provide a device of the characterdescribed which shall be of particularly inexpensive construction,suilciently rugged, neat in appearance, well adapted to receive andsupport a garment, particularly the collar of a shirt, and facilitateinspection of a shirt therein, and which shall be adapted for cheapmanufacture and without waste of material.

An important problem in the manufacture of devices such as shirtenvelopes is to reduce to a minimum the cost of the material required.Shirt envelopes have generally been made of cardboard or otherrelatively stiff material, which has been a principal item of expense.Hence it has been proposed to make the front wall of such envelope of athin, light weight, pliable material, such as ordinary or tissue paper,whereby the cost of material would be substantially reduced. By myinvention, the front wall has improved reenforcing means, whereby thelightest possible paper may be satisfactorily employed, and the shirtcollar may be adequately supported. An auxiliary collar supporting meanswhich is positive in its action may be employed at one end of theenvelope. The opposite end of the envelope may be recessed to providefor inspection of the shirt from that end, as when the packaged shirtsare arranged in a. stack. The reenforcement means for the front wall maybe in the nature of strips of material one of which conforms to thecollar, and the other of which has a shape adapted to intert with therst mentioned strip, and thus to provide said opening. A particularlysimplified method may be employed to construct the front wall and thereenforcing strips.

4' It is therefore an object of the invention to obtain the abovementioned advantages.

Other objects and advantages'of the invention will become apparent asthe specification pro- 4 3 ceeds.

With the aforesaid objects in view, the invention consists in the novelcombinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described in theirpreferred embodiments, pointed out in the sub- J'oined claims, andillustrated in the annexed drawing, wherein like parts are designated bythe same reference characters throughout the several Views.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of a device 1933, Serial N0.692,394

embodying the invention, and showing in dot dash lines a shirt therein.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a view in rear elevation of the device. 5

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of a blank structure showing a step inthe method of making the device.

` Referring in detail to the drawing, I0 denotes a device such as ashirt envelope embodying the 10 invention. The same may include arelatively stiff back member II made of a suitable material such ascardboard, and a front member I2 of a thin, pliable light weightmaterial such as ordinary or tissue paper. Actually, the member I2 ismuch thinner than shown in the drawing, in which a thickness isindicated for clarity. Desirably, the member I2 may extend to the lowerend I3 of the back member with which certain points such as I4 of itslower edge may be in substantial coincidence. The upper edge I5 of thefront member may terminate at a substantial distance below the upperedge i6 of the back member to provide a free shirt supporting portionI1. The side edges of the members may be suitably longitudinallyinterconnected, as by folding the edge portions I8 of the front memberaround the back member and adhesively securing the portions I 8 thereto.Except for such connection, the upper and lower ends of the front andback members are preferably free of each other.

For reenforcing the front member I2, suitable elements such as stripsI9, may be associated with the upper and lower edges I5 and I4respectively. Said strips may consist of a material of any suitableweight and stiffness, but preferably the material has more pliabilityand is less in thickness and weight than that of the member II and hasless pliability and greater thickness, weight and strength than thematerial of the member I2. For example, the strips may consist ofordinary paper which may have the character of a usual or a heavyWrapping paper. Each of these strips may be connected, adhesively, orotherwise, along an end edge of the front member I2, to theback member II, as shown at 2|, or both. Desirably the strips I 9 and 20 overlie thefront member I2, whereby various colors and styles of material for thestrips may be used in contrast with the rest of the envelope. Aside 5,0from this factor, however, greater reliability and strength ofreenforcement is obtained by this arrangement. When the strips thusoverlie the front member I2, the connection of the parts 2| with theback member is through the medium of 55 the portions I8, although theparts ZI may also extend b-eyond said portions and be directlyadhesively secured to the back member.

The front member may have means for supporting a collar 22 of a shirt 23received within the envelope. For instance, a recess 24 may be providedin the upper edge of the front member as well as in the reenforcementstrip I9, as indicated by the free edge ISa of the latter, and theportions at opposite sides of said recess may be cut away as at 25 toexpose for inspection the upper side portions of the shirt. Hence it isseen that the front element has an upper edge conformation adapted toengage the collar band or to project into engagement with the fold line22a. of the collar within the fold thereof, this region A of the frontwall element being thus of double ply with free edges of the frontmember and of the strip I9 in coincidence. 'Ihis supporting regionpossesses an ample degree of stiffness by reason also of the adhesivewhich may be liberally employed between all parts of the contactingfaces of the strip and front wall.

The lower portion of the envelope may have an. opening such as one ormore recesses 29 for exposing to View an adjacent portion 2l of theshirt. If desired, theremay be a projection 28 between said recesses,which projection may extend to the bottom edge of the back member II soas to fully cover the shirt and prevent soiling thereof at the pointwhere the package is frequently grasped. The conformation thus providedincludes the free edge II of the front member and the free edge 29 ofthe reenforcement strip in coincidence.' The strip 29 may be secured tothe front member and to the back member at 30 in the same manner asabove described for the strip I9.

It will be noted that the lower reenforced region B of the front elementand the upper reenforced or collar supporting region A thereof possessesirregular free edge conformations whose shapes are adapted to interfitwith each other, for a purpose hereinafter described.

At 3l is shown an auxiliary collar supporting means, which may comprisea tongue 32 constructed so as to be maintained to extend in the generaldirection of the plane of the back member II. Preferably the tongue 32is struck from the back member forming the opening 32a, and foldedupward along a line 33 spaced from the edge I9. The portion of thetongue adjacent to the fold line 33 .may be secured by adhesive at 34 tothe back member. In general, the end 35 of the tongue terminates belowthe edge I5, and since the adjoining region of the back member isunbroken, a collar is protected against soiling while supported with thetongue extending into the back 36 of the fold section of the collar. Thetongue and the adjacent portion of the back member may be regarded as apocket for receiving the collar for the purpose of holding andpreventing soiling.

The method of making the envelope will now be described. A roll orelongated sheet of material or paper 3l is spread out, and strips 38 ofa reenforcing material are adhesively secured thereto in uniformlyspaced relation to each other, and transversely or at right angles tothe length of the sheet 31. Then the sheet 31 and the strips 38 are cutthrough as along the lines 39 shown in dot dash lines to providesections C, each of which includes a front member I2, an upper strip I9and a lower strip 20 corresponding in general to the device shown inFig. l. 'Ihe interfitting relation of the parts I9 and 2|] of thesuccessive sections may be noted. Thus, in a simple manner the frontwall element o f the envelope is provided with upper and lowerreenforcements, with the collar receiving recess 24 and the shirtinspection recess 26, and with the free edges of the members I2, I9 and20 in precise coincidence. The back member II including the flapstructure 32 may be formed in a single operation, if desired, and then asection C may be applied thereto with side edge of the section foldedaround and adhesively secured t0 the back member as shown at I8, 2| and30, to complete the envelope. k

In use, a shirt folded over a cardboard is inserted with a single motioninto the envelope until the collar substantially rests on the recess 2A.Then the tongue 32 is applied, the shirt further inserted, and finallythe cardboard is removed. A particular advantage of the opening 29 isthat when the cardboard is being removed from the inserted shirt, thelatter may be grasped at the opening 29 to prevent any retraction of theshirt.

An especial advantage resulting from the method of making the shirtenvelope is in the saving of material.

It will be appreciated that various changes and modifications may bemade in the device as shown in the drawing, and that the same issubmitted in an illustrative and not in a limiting sense, the scope ofthe invention being defined in the following claims.

I claim:

l. A shirt envelope including a front member and a back member, thelatter having a tongue struck therefrom in spaced relations to an end ofthe back member, said tongue being folded back along a line to projecttoward said end for providing a collar supporting tab, and the openingformed in striking said tongue permitting access to the shirttherethrough.

2. A shirt envelope including a front member and a back member, thelatter having a tongue struck therefrom in spaced relations to an end ofthe back member, said tongue being folded back along a line to projecttoward said end for providing a collar supporting tab, said tab beingconnected to the back member in proximity to the fold line formaintaining the tab in substantially parallel relation to the backmember.

3. A shirt envelope having a thin light weight pliable front member, arelatively stiff back member, said members being interconnected alongtheir side edges and being free of each other at their ends,reenforcement strips extending along and adhesively secured to the endportions of the front member, one of said strips having an irregularcollar` supporting free edge conformation, and the other strip having afree edge of a shape adapted to interiit with said collar supportingconformation.

JULIUS M. ALTER. MEYER LIPSEY.

